The smelter was placed into 'care and maintenance' mode in late 2012, as Hydro considered its options for the site. Due to factors including the global market and market price for aluminium, the value of the Australian dollar and the running costs for a smelter of this type, Hydro has decided that manufacturing aluminium at this smelter is not viable, and announced the full closure of the site in May 2014. This now allows the demolition, remediation, and redevelopment of the site to be planned, and planning is underway.

After considerable planning, preparation, investigations and approvals from the NSW Government, demolition of the smelter will occur. The overall process is likely to take several years and Hydro will keep the community and other stakeholders informed about timeframes and other activities.

More information on this subject is located under Demolition and Remediation and it will be updated as new information is available.

Hydro has been conducting a variety of environmental and other investigations on the site, and considering potential future options for the smelter site and associated buffer land.

Proposed future use of the smelter site is for employment land, while plans for the large buffer zone include residential development, continued rural use and the conservation of a large proportion of the site that contains valuable biodiversity.

More information on this subject is located under Rezoning and it will be updated as new information is available.

Hydro is proposing to rezone parts of the land to allow residential development within the eastern area of the buffer land. Approval for rezoning is required from both Cessnock City Council and Maitland City Council. Separate Development Applications (DAs) would then be required for any residential development in these areas.

This process is likely to take some years to be realised.

More information on this subject is located under Rezoning and it will be updated as new information is available.

There are several areas making up a quite small proportion of the overall site that are identified as containing contaminants. Hydro is committed to managing site contaminants so that they do not represent a risk to human health or the environment. We continue to work in consultation with the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) to manage the remediation of those areas.

In August 2014, Hydro submitted a Preliminary Environmental Assessment to the NSW Department of Planning for the proposed demolition, remediation and waste management activities as the first stage of Hydro’s strategic vision for the Project site. The Project will render the Project site suitable for future use and achieve Hydro’s commitment to meeting its corporate environmental and social responsibilities, and to managing its environmental legacies.

We have recently (March 2014) renewed the lease for the Kurri Kurri Speedway and the Junior Motorcycle Club for another two years. Decisions beyond that time frame will be made later, and we will consult with the groups and the community during the decision making process.

A community telephone line 1800 066 243 has been set up for community enquiries.

Letters and newsletters which will be sent to neighbours and other interested stakeholders,

A Community Reference Group (CRG) has been set up which meets regularly and acts as a liaison point between the community and the project. The group is made up of community representatives from Council, community groups, business groups and local residents.

Hydro has been looking at the issue of what to do with both contaminated and other waste for some time, and has taken advice from a variety of environmental consultants. We have looked at several options for waste management and remediation for the site, and assessed those options against the criteria below:

Risk

Legacy

Timeframe

Permissibility

Economic viability

Environmental outcome for site

Corporate social responsibility

The on-site containment cell option was the option that best met the requirements of all of the above criteria. Note that the project is classed as “State significant” and will be subject to a rigorous government assessment and approval process.

Containment cells are current best-practice for the management of many contaminated waste materials. They are engineered to a very high standard to capture any produced gas, to prevent leakage, and also have built-in leakage detection systems, and methods for capturing leakage if it was to occur.

On site containment has been used around the world and locally, in areas such as Sydney Olympic Park at Homebush Bay, at the former Pasminco smelter at Cockle Creek, , the former BHP site at Mayfield, at Charlestown in Lake Macquarie, and Carrington in Newcastle.